Soon-to-Be Bride Jessica Simpson Talks What's Next… We're Listening

Jessica Simpson--pop princess turned fashion mogul--told REDBOOK shes still the all-American good girl she was growing up, and we totally believe her.

Jessica Simpson—pop princess turned fashion mogul—told REDBOOK she's still "the all-American good girl" she was growing up, and we totally believe her. For more exclusive candid moments, read her quotes and the feature in the February issue of REDBOOK—on newsstands January 14—or download the iPad edition here.

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Mike Coppola/Getty

Eric didn’t give a s--t about her weight gain

Jessica gained 70 pounds during her first pregnancy (with daughter Maxwell) and took some flack from the press—but never from fiancé Eric Johnson. “He was totally supportive—100 percent there for me,” says Jessica. “He wasn’t worried about what I was going to look like afterward—and that was liberating. There are a lot of men out there that don’t like what happens to a woman’s body when she’s pregnant. I think it’s just the sexiest thing. I felt sexy lying around with my big belly and I felt sexy stuffing my face.”

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Matt Jones

She’s got a thing for fried chicken

Jessica discovered she was pregnant with her son, Ace, just seven months after Maxwell was born. At that point, “I had lost 50 pounds on Weight Watchers—and had a good 20-plus pounds to go,” she says. “Having been on Weight Watchers helped me make wiser decisions about what I was eating the second time around. That said, I still gained a whole lot of weight during my second pregnancy. There was no way I was going to be on a diet or obsess about my baby weight. I’m a Southern girl and I like Southern food—fried chicken, mashed potatoes—but instead of having that three times a week, I’d have it only one time.” [Laughs]

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Jeffrey Mayer/Getty

Sisterhood of the maternity pants

When tabloids took aim at a pregnant Kim Kardashian’s figure in the spring of 2013, Jessica sent love her way in an Us Weekly interview, saying, "We are creating a human life: I think we get every excuse in the world to eat a doughnut!" Jessica toldREDBOOK: “I felt her pain. As women we are entitled to make our own decisions—whether that’s choosing to eat what we want when we’re pregnant, or whatever. Haven’t we been given those rights some time ago? If the press chooses to scrutinize those choices—that’s their issue.”

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Jamie McCarthy/Larry Busacca/Getty

On her parents’ split

Though she says she’ll always be devastated by her parents’ recent divorce, Jessica called their separation “the best decision they ever made.” She supported them from the start: “I’d already been through a divorce, and my sister, Ashlee, had already been through a divorce, so when this happened with my parents, we were like, ‘Take it from your daughters that sometimes this is what it takes,’” she says. “I think Ashlee and I made the right decisions, and my parents were encouraged by our happiness and our freedom.”

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Matt Jones

Jessica’s brand of feminism

Asked if she’s feminist, the businesswoman and mom says, “I definitely believe that women can change the world. We have great power, and though we may be more emotional than men, I think that only works in our favor in understanding the more delicate sides of a situation when we’re getting things done. I also definitely believe that we can get almost any man to do whatever we want.” [Laughs] “We really can. As much as I’ve been controlled by the many men in my life, I still have always known how to wrap them around my finger.”

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Raymond Hall/Getty

The big day

“My wedding is going to be a family affair and an unbelievable celebration. Eric and I dated for six months before he said to me, ‘You and I are going to get married.’ We’re doing everything backward [by having kids first], but I know [the walk down the aisle] will be the best walk I’ll ever take.”

Read about how Jessica dealt with supporting her family as a teenager and how she reached her new body goals (Daisy Dukes? Maybe not, but she’s close enough to feel great). It’s all in the February issue of REDBOOK, on newsstands January 14. Or download the iPad edition here.

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